A&A: Multiple CPRA Requests For A Decades Old Homicide Have Been Denied Without Explanation

Q: I am seeking information from the California Department of Justice regarding a 1981 multiple homicide. I have reason to believe the two suspects in the homicides were not arrested because one of the suspects was a confidential informant at the time. I have asked for clarification or other information on the matter but have turned down several times in the past. A: The law enforcement exception to the California Public Records Act allows an agency to

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A&A: Newspaper Facing Possible Retaliation Over Reporting On Local Scandal Involving City Hall

Q: We are a small news organization covering a scandal and cover-up regarding finances and fraudulent email involving the city. There exists a pattern and culture of City Hall utilizing punitive powers to bully and pressure residents and business owners in town. Due to the recordings that we are publishing in our local paper, certain members of City Hall and the City Council have been intimidating some residents and businesses. They are afraid to make

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Supreme Court rejects appeal of ruling against Kansas ag-gag law

The U.S. Supreme Court let stand a ruling by the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that a Kansas law was unconstitutional that made it a crime to enter an animal facility to take photos under false pretenses and without the owner’s consent. The 10th circuit said that Kansas could not discriminate based on whether the intent was to help or harm the facility. (Free Speech Center, April 25, 2022, by The Associated Press) The

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Free speech defense may fail in Florida retraction of Disney benefit

Some lawyers think that when Florida revoked Disney’s tax status for the company’s opposition to its “Don’t Say Gay” bill, the state violated its First Amendment rights. A government cannot retaliate against an entity for that entity’s exercise of free speech. (The Intercept, April 23, 2022, by Akela Lacy) Law professor Eugene Volokh, Reason, April 22, 2022, is skeptical that the free speech charge has lasting power given that Florida is stripping Disney of a

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